Cal rallies past Drake in Anaheim Classic game

ANAHEIM -- Justin Cobbs scored 21 and Allen Crabbe added 15 on Thursday night as Cal survived inconsistent play to get past Drake 73-70 in the DirecTV Classic at the Anaheim Convention Center.

The Bears (4-0) will play Georgia Tech in the semifinals Friday. The Yellow Jackets defeated Rice 54-36 to spoil a Cal matchup with its former coach, Ben Braun.

It took Cal everything it had to erase a nine-point deficit on a night it lost redshirt sophomore Ricky Kreklow to a foot injury before the game began.

"At the end of the game we probably played our most aggressive defense," Cal coach Mike Montgomery said. "Allen played defense like I'd never seen him."

A 14-2 run brought the Bears back with 3:27 left on Crabbe's drive to the basket. It came almost a minute after Brandon Smith's three-point play off a courageous drive against three defenders.

"Those were two huge plays," Drake coach Mark Phelps said.

But it took some heart-pounding moments for the Bears to finish in the clear.

Jordan Clarke made one of two free throws with 1:19 left to give Drake a 70-69 lead, but Cobbs rushed down the court and made a jumper to put Cal up by one.

Then the Bulldogs' Ben Simons missed badly with less than a minute left on a desperation shot. Cobbs again pushed the ball up the court, forcing Drake's Seth VanDeest to foul him. He made both free throws.

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"I thought I had a pretty good look," Simons said of his shot.

The Bears still were not free. In a struggle for the ball around the 3-point line, Richard Solomon got his fifth foul with 1.5 seconds left. Clarke returned to the line, where he missed both shots before time ran out.

Cal had erased the nine-point second-half deficit with disciplined and focused play by Cobbs and Crabbe. Solomon added 10 points.

"At the end of the game when it counted the most, they ended up making the plays that counted," Phelps said.

The Bears had suddenly transformed after struggling throughout the second half. Cal appeared to unravel with 15:34 left after the 6-foot-10 Solomon and the bench got consecutive technical fouls. Simons made all four free throws as Drake took a three-point lead.

By the time Solomon got his fourth foul with 12:43 to play, the Bulldogs led 53-48 and the Bears were playing to survive.

Drake (1-2) led by as many as nine with 6:59 left. Cal, though, didn't quit. Crabbe's 3-pointer with 5:22 left brought the Bears within 66-62 on an 11-2 run.

"We don't necessarily know how hard we have to play to be good," Montgomery said.

Saint Mary's 76, Drexel 64: Matthew Dellavedova had a career game to lead Saint Mary's past Drexel in the first round.

Dellavedova, a senior from Victoria, Australia, scored 32 points to break his career high of 27 set in January against USF. He made 10 of 16 shots and 10 of 12 free throws.

The Gaels (4-0) advanced to the second round Friday, where they will face the University of the Pacific, a 70-67 winner over Xavier.

Drexel couldn't solve Dellavedova, the 6-foot-4 point guard who started for Australia at the London Games. His ability to twist and turn in the lane to pull up for short jump shots proved to be demoralizing for the Dragons (1-3).

The Aussie got plenty of support in front of a sparse Thanksgiving Day crowd. Sophomore forward Brad Waldow had 15 points, and guard James Walker III added 13.

Saint Mary's led 36-28 at halftime behind Dellavedova's 16 points. But Drexel closed to within two points twice early in the second half. Then Dellavedova took over. He scored his 25th point with 11:43 left to give the Gaels a 57-46 advantage -- their biggest lead to that point.

Walker got his fourth foul 23 seconds later and went to the bench. But Saint Mary's protected the lead with an aggressive defense and by counting on Dellavedova.